The committee agreed that one of our early priorities would be to look at the scale, cause and impact of loneliness and isolation. While we are acutely aware that many other groups of people experience feelings of loneliness and isolation, this inquiry has predominantly focused on older people. Wales has a higher percentage of older people within its population than any other part of the UK. We hear that 18 per cent of people in the UK feel lonely 'always' or 'often', which is the equivalent of almost 458,000 people here in Wales. This figure is particularly worrying as we were told that many older people are too embarrassed to admit to feelings of loneliness. The figure could, in fact, be significantly higher.

Between January and March last year, we ran a public consultation. We received 39 written responses, representing a range of healthcare organisations, professional groups and third sector organisations. We heard oral evidence from a number of witnesses, and I took part in a Facebook Live broadcast to launch the inquiry, encouraging viewers to share their thoughts on the prevalence of loneliness and isolation and the potential causes. 

Committee members also took part in focus group sessions in Newport as part of the Senedd@Newport programme. We met with people experiencing loneliness and isolation and those involved in initiatives to support them. It was with great pleasure that we were able to return to Horton’s Coffee House in December to launch our report and to hear from this same group of people about what they thought of our findings. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our inquiry.

Now, turning to the conclusions and recommendations of the committee, we’ve made six recommendations to the Welsh Government, which we hope will contribute towards delivering the solutions needed to address this important issue. I would like to thank the Minister for the positive response to the committee’s work.

Our first recommendation relates to the Welsh Government’s commitment to develop a cross-government, national approach to tackling loneliness and isolation. We welcome this commitment, however, we are concerned that it is not due to be delivered until 2019, by which time so many more of our older citizens will have experienced the adverse effects of loneliness and isolation.

The importance of addressing loneliness and isolation cannot be underestimated, particularly given its impact on health and social care services. Given the increasingly ageing population of Wales, action is needed now to prevent the situation worsening. We are particularly concerned about the over-80s age group.

As I’ve mentioned, proportionately, Wales has more people in this age range than any other part of the UK. People in this group can potentially be at greater risk of becoming lonely and socially isolated as a result of increasingly complex health needs and limited mobility, which in turn impacts on their ability to engage in a wide range of social activities.

We have, therefore, recommended that the Welsh Government review the timescales for the development of its strategy, with a view to publication before 2019, which the Minister has partially accepted. We recognise the scale and breadth of the challenge ahead of us in tackling this issue and we welcome the Minister’s commitment to keep this timescale under review and to take action, where possible, earlier than 2019. 

A number of respondents to our inquiry commented on the ways in which loneliness and isolation affects the use of public services. For example, we heard that people experiencing loneliness and isolation are more likely to visit their GP, to take higher rates of medication, to be at a greater risk of falls, to have a greater likelihood of entering residential care, and to make more use of accident and emergency services. 

Many of these services are already available; we need to concentrate on raising awareness and facilitating access to them. We heard that low-level intervention for people experiencing loneliness and isolation could be of benefit. Ironically, the restrictions on public sector finances mean that it's these services that are most likely to be cut. There was also a suggestion that interventions of this kind could lead to savings for the public purse in the long term. However, there's no robust evidence at present to support this suggestion. We've therefore suggested that the Welsh Government should undertake or commission work to assess the impact of loneliness and isolation on health and well-being, and whether people experiencing these issues make increased use of public services. That was recommendation 3.

As the Minister notes in his response to the recommendation, avoiding an escalation in people's needs to a point where they become chronic and long-term is central to reducing avoidable pressure on public services. I am grateful for the acceptance of this recommendation and commitment to supplement the evidence provided to the committee through commissioning independent targeted research on the use made of public services by people experiencing loneliness and isolation and the associated costs of this.

Recommendation 4 relates to funding for the voluntary sector. The pivotal role of voluntary groups in providing the wide range of activities and support that help address loneliness and isolation is widely acknowledged, and we were impressed by much of the work that we heard about. Voluntary bodies are uniquely placed to respond to the needs of local communities and to draw on local resources, such as volunteer staff. However, the short-term nature of these funding schemes and the complexity of obtaining a grant can present a challenge to these smaller organisations. Too often, successful projects are forced to close when funding ceases. We therefore believe that funding needs to offer greater continuity and stability to voluntary sector services—for at least three years—if they are to have an enduring impact in local communities.

It's disappointing that the Minister has only partially accepted this recommendation, as we heard from those providing these vital services how staff motivation can be affected by small-scale and short-term funding, and the need to regularly seek new sources of funding. However, I do welcome his assurance that the development of an approach to tackle loneliness and isolation will include further work with the voluntary sector and local government to determine what more can be done to establish financial stability for key services.

We were impressed with the evidence that we heard on intergenerational contact, which can sometimes be more beneficial than contact with one's own age group. We know that there are pockets of good practice happening around Wales, and believe that the benefits of such schemes need to be evaluated, with a view to rolling them out more widely. We have therefore recommended that the Welsh Government should undertake an evaluation to assess the impact of intergenerational contact on people experiencing loneliness and isolation. That was recommendation 5. If the evaluation highlights benefits of such contact, the Welsh Government should ensure that best practice in this area is rolled out across Wales.

To conclude, I would like to turn to the issue of stigma, mentioned in recommendation 6. One of the biggest issues we came across was stigma. People are too ashamed to admit that they are lonely, so the extent of this problem could be much worse than is currently assumed. This is particularly true amongst men, who present a much higher suicide risk. We also heard about the cycle of loneliness, where people are too embarrassed to admit that they need more help and they withdraw from society. The more disengaged they become, the more likely they are to become lonely and isolated, and the less likely they are to access the help they need.

We are all very aware of the excellent work of Time to Change Wales in making it easier to talk about mental health. Our recommendation, therefore, calls for a similar campaign to change public attitudes towards loneliness and isolation. As the Minister rightly points out, although loneliness and isolation have received increased national attention through the work of groups such as the Campaign to End Loneliness, Age UK and the British Red Cross, there remains work to do to raise public awareness. So, I welcome his positive response to this recommendation, and I look forward to the development of a national awareness campaign. I look forward to the debate. Thank you very much.